Typewriting machine



W. F. HELMOND. TYPEWRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 15. 1919.

Patented Oct 17, 1922.

State of Connecticut, have invented certain- Patented Get. 17, 1922.

WILLIAM IE. THEIJZVIOND, OFYHARTFO BID, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR 'IO UND EEWOO D TYPEWRITER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION" OF DELAWARE.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

Application filed March 15, 1919.- Serial No. 282833.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NILLIAM F. HnLMoND, a citizen of the United States, residing in Hartford, in the county of Hartford and new and useful improvements in Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention: relates to platen-release mechanismfor typew *itingmachines, and is herein disclosed as applied toan Underwood typew-riting machine, embodying many of the features set forth in my Patent No. 1,225,331, dated May 8, 1917.

In said patent, the usual platen of the Underwood typewriting machine is fast to the usual axle, and journaled on this axle is shown a line-space-wheel, which is adapted to be clutched to the axle by means of a clutch, controlled by a handle or finger-piece, adapted to be pulled axially of the platen. The clutch disclosed in said patent lies outside of the line-space-wheel, and is'connected thereto by a comparatively small hub, to enable the usual cover-plate of the shift frame to extend down and shield the linespace-wheel, so that it will not become entangled with anything, such as the sleeve of the typists' dress. The clutch disclosed insaid patent is extremely effective for the purpose, for which it was designed, and, be-

ing enclosed itself, for the most part, it has little liability of becomingentangled in the manner described.

The added space occupied: by the hub in saidpatented structure renders the typewritingmachine somewhat inconvenient to use, under some circumstances, since the length of the carriage of. the typewriter,

which frequently is awkwardly great to begin with, isincreased by the necessity of having such a-hub. Any added length of the carriage increases, for example, the liability of the carriage to' catch in a folding desk when-the desk isbeing closed, and also increases the likelihood of themachine being; blocked bythe end of the carriage striking against the wall when the machine is being usedendwise near the wall of a room. 7 According to the present invention, the line-space-wheel. may itself form one member ofa clutch; or be integral therewith, thus-eliminating said hub and making it possible to bring the usual cover-platedown over the face of the clutch, as well as the line-space-wheel, without making the coverplate extremely long or conspicuous. Since the line-space teeth preferably occupy the usual position lengthwise of the carriage, this enables the rest of the clutch to be brought up substantially to the usual position of the line-space wheel, thus enabling the ordinary hand-wheel and the clutchoperating fin er-piece to be brought materially closer to the carriage. The present improvement, moreover, lightens the carriage, by eliminating the hub and other body parts, and the heavy parts of the clutch may be of openwork, since dirt is kept out of them by the cover-plate The device may be used on a carriage of the ordinary type, the principal difference being that the arm, usually employed for casting off the linespace detent, is advantageously journaled between the line-space wheel and the platen, instead of outside the line-space wheel. 7

' Other features and advantageswill hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an Underwood typewriting machine, showing the present invention as applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a side view of the same, mainly in section.

Figure 3 is a view, show:' in Figure 2, but viewed from stead of in section.

Figure 4 is asectional end view, showing the clutch members, with the clutch-cover removed.

Figure 5 is a dissected perspective view of the parts of the clutch proper.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a part of a coverplate.

In the Underwood typewriting machine. the platen l0 is fast to an axle 11, iournaled. in the end plates 12 of the shift-frame, which is connected to the usual carriage 13. For line-spacing purposes, there is provided the usual handle 1%, p'voted at 15. so that when swung to the right, a bell-crank extension 16 will thrust rearwardly a pawl-carrying slide 17, with the result that a pawl 18 thereon engages the teeth 20 of a line-spacewheel to turn'it In order to cause the turning of the linespace-wheel-teeth 20 to turn the platen 10, there is provided a finger-piece 21, which, when thrust-in, causes clutch-arms 22, lying within the inner surfaces of a clutch-ring 23,

to be expended. against said ring, with the result that the arms 22 seize the ring 23. The teeth 20 are formed integral with the outer periphery of the ring 23, with the result that when the arms 22 bind the ring 23 to the axle 11, they also bind the teeth 20 to the axle. In order that the arms 22 may turn with the platen axle, they rest against a split lug 24, fast upon the face of a disk 25, which is held to the axle 11 by a set-screw 26, passing through the hub 27 oi the disk.

The connections between the finger-piece 21 and the arms 22 include secondary arms 28, which are adaptedto be expanded or thrust outward when the lingerpiece 21 is pushed in, since the finger-piece is connected to a cone-shaped expanding member 29 by rods 30, 31. lVhen the finger-piece 21 is pushed in, so that the cone 29 forces apart the arms 28, the arms pivot on a floating ain 32, between them, which forms a tog 'lo oiiit with outer pins 33 lying between the arms 28 and the arms 22. When the expanding cone 29 reaches home, it is held in place, be cause a keeper 34- swings over a plunger 35, fast to the cone, the keeper for this purpose bein pivoted within the hub 36 oi the handwhee l 37, and being swung to eiloctive position by a cam 38 upon the rod 80, as more fully set forth in said patent-and in my Patent No. 1. 150,366, dated ihl'lg'llst 17, 1915."

In order to enable the arms 22 to be adjusted, to allow for wear, etc, the lug 24; is provided \i'iththe adjusting screws 39 and 40, more fully described in Patent No. 1,225,331, aforesaid. The expanding cone 29 is slidably mounted upon the shaft or axle 11, and, when thrust inwardly. stands in such a position that its point rests within a hollow ll in the plate or disk 25, said plate being shaped. as if drawn out to form the hub 27. Said plate 25 is provided with a flanged edge 42, which fits into a rabbet in.

the ring 23 beneath the teeth 20, so that the flanged, edge 42 form, a thrust bearing to hold the line-space-teeth 20 in position, while outward from the flange 4L2 the poripherv L3 or the disk 25 forms a drum having a broad surface to form a smooth bearing for the ring 23. The clutchring 28 forms an extension from the line-space wheel having the teeth 20, and projects beyond the drum 43 of the clutch-disk 25, there toprovide an internal annular clutch surface. It is to be noted that the curved or arcuate clutcharms 22 conform in their exterior outline with the inneraunular clutch surface: of the pro ecting extension "Formed by the clutchring 23, and that the frictional contact be tween these clutch-arms and this inner clutch surfs. ce extends throughout the greater part of the latter. In order to hold the ring in place, so that it will not slip off toward the end of the carriage, there is provided a circular cover-platedel, adapted, to fit in a rabbet 45, cut in the edge of the ring 23 and held in position upon the plate 25 by screws a5, which pass through the plate 14, and are threaded into lugs 46 upon the face of the plate 25. The cover-plate 44 also forms an outer bearing for the line-space wheel and its clutch-ring 23.

The usual line-space-detent 4:7 is held by the usual spring 48 against the teeth 20, in order to align the platen 10 properly during the line-spacing operation. F ormaking this detent 47 ineffective, the usual silencinghandlo 49 may be employed, said handle, how ever, having a body 50, Which is journaled by a hub 51 upon the axle 11, outside of the end plate 12,.against which the usual hub 52 of the platen axle bears on the inside.

The present structure brings the ring to such a position that a cover-plate 51, having a top 52 of the usual form, can carry an apron 53 extending downpracticallyto the ring 23 and fitting the ring iairly closely. Til desired, the apron may include an arch extension 54- over the ring 23 having a bib 55' terminating in an are 56 embracing the hub 57 of the cone 29, and far enough from the plate 44 to clear the lug 2 Since the plate 25 is thus sheltered from dirt by the cover-plate, it may be an open structure, shown as including a number of openings 58, adapted to materially lighten the weight of the clutch because of the metal removed.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.-

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

l. The combination with a platen axle and a plate in which itis' journaled, of a ring comprisin line-space teeth, a clutch comprising a p ate fast to said axle, said plate forming a journal for said ring, a

finger-piece slidable axially of the axle,

clutching members mounted upon said clutoh-plate and adapted to be forced by said finger-piece against said ring to clamp the ring to the clutch-plate, a line-space detent' journaled upon said journal-plate, and a casting-0E arm for said detent journaled upon said axle between the clutch and the journal-plate. j

2. The combination with a platen axle and a plate" in which it is journaled, of a ring comprising line-space teeth, a clutch comprising'a plate fast to said axle, said plate forming a journal for said ring, a finger-piece slidable axially of the axle, clutching members mounted upon said clutch-plate and adapted to be forced by said'finger-piece againstsaid ring to clamp the ring to the clutch-plate, and a coverplate extending over said line space teetl andincluclinganapron having'an arc embracing the ring; p i

he combination -w1th a platen axle and a plate in which it is journaled, of a ring comprising line-space teeth, a clutch comprising a plate fast to said axle, said plate forming a journal for said ring, a finger-piece slidable axially of the axle, clutching members mounted upon said clutch-plate and adapted to be forced by said finger-piece against said ring to clamp the ring to the clutch plate, a cover-plate extending over said line-space teeth and including an apron having an arc embracing the ring, an expanding member having a hub upon said platen axle and forming part of the clutch, and a bib on said apron extending over the clutch to embrace the hub.

4. The combination, with a cylindrical platen for a typewriting machine, of a circular clutch-disk in fixed relation therewith and concentric with the axis thereof and having a part forming a drum providing a peripheral bearing surface, a line-space wheel journaled on the periphery of said drum formed by the clutch-disk, the linespace wheel having a cylindrical extension concentric with the platen axis and projecting beyond said drum to provide an internal annular clutch surface, clutch mechanism carried by the clutch-disk and encircled by said inner annular clutch surface formed by said projecting extension, said mechanism comprising clutch elements conforming in exterior outline with said inner annular clutch surface of said projecting extension and capable of being urged into frictional clutching engagement therewith, the fric tional contact between said clutch elements and said inner annular clutch surface of said projecting extension extending throughout the greater part of the circumference of the latter, and acircular cover-plate mounted on the clutch-disk and fitting within the outer end of said projecting extension to form an outer bearing therefor and to cover the clutch mechanism, said disk having a peripheral flange and the line-space wheel and its said extension being rabbeted at one end to receive said peripheral flange of the clutch-disk and being rabbeted at the other end to receive the periphery of the coverplate.

5. The combination with a platen axle and an open-work clutch member fast thereon forming part of a clutch, of a ring journaled upon said clutch member comprising line-space teeth, a cover-plate for the clutch adapted to hold the ring upon the member, members within said clutch, a finger-piece slidable along said axle to expand said men1- bers against said ring to make the clutch effective, and a cover-plate extending around said ring adapted to shield the clutch from dirt.

6. The combination with a platen axle and an open-work clutch member fast thereon forming part of a clutch, of a ring journaled upon said clutch member comprising line-space teeth, a cover-plate for the clutch adapted to hold the ring upon the member, members within said clutch, a finger-piece slidable along said axle to expand said members against said ring to make the clutch effective, a cover-plate extending around said ring adapted to shield the clutch from dirt, a plate in which said axle is journaled, so that the open-work member of the clutch faces said last-named plate, a line-space detent journaled upon said last-named plate, and a casting-off handle for said detent j ournaled on the axle between said lastnamed plate and the clutch.

WILLIAM F. HELHOND.

Witnesses:

SHIRLEY E. GLEDHILL, WILLIAM P. SMITH. 

